Who is R. Kelly? Things to know about singer charged with sex abuse

A Timeline of Events: R. Kelly Sexual Abuse Allegations

Fiza Pirani, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
and
Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Updated
February 25 2019 5:41 PM

Grammy-winning singer R. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse levied against him by prosecutors in Chicago.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced the charges against Kelly at a Feb. 22 news conference. Authorities allege that between 1998 and 2010, Kelly sexually abused a woman and three girls under the age of 17.

3. More allegations could be coming

Michael Avenatti, an attorney representing two of Kelly’s alleged victims, said Feb. 25 that his legal team planned to turn over a video to prosecutors that shows “R. Kelly engaging in sexual assault of a minor.”

I can confirm that we will be providing a second video showing R. Kelly engaged in sexual assault of a minor to prosecutors this morning. This tape was recently uncovered in connection with our ongoing nationwide investigation on behalf of victims. Justice must be done.

Avenatti previously provided prosecutors with a video that purportedly showed Kelly engaging in sexual acts with a girl who says in the recording that she is 14 years old, according to CNN.

4. It’s not the first time Kelly has been accused of sexual misconduct

Reporter Jim DeRogatis wrote about the first sexual abuse allegations against Kelly in a 2000 Chicago Sun-Times story that focused on a woman named Tiffany Hawkins, who claimed she had sex with Kelly when she was 15-18 years old, between 1991 and 1994.

In 2013, DeRogatis, who received anonymously sourced sex tapes of Kelly and underage girls, said he had interviewed nearly two dozen women who claimed Kelly sexually abused them, according to The Village Voice.

In 2008, after he was arrested and indicted on child pornography charges, Kelly was found not guilty on all 14 counts.

According to TMZ, Kelly did not watch the show, but was “disgusted” and planned to file lawsuits against anyone who took part in executive producer dream hampton’s creation, including Lifetime and the alleged survivors of his abuse.

The six-hour, three-part special detailed accounts of Kelly’s history of alleged physical and emotional abuse of women, including a recent “abusive cult” in which the singer is accused of holding women against their will. The claims, reported in July 2017 by DeRogatis, then of BuzzFeed, came from sources living in one of the two homes in which Kelly was reportedly running the cult.

What You Need to Know: Surviving R. Kelly Allegations

6. He married a 15-year-old Aaliyah in 1994, faking her age in a falsified marriage certificate

The late singer Aaliyah Haughton, who died in a plane crash at age 22, met R. Kelly when she was 12 years old.

In 1994, after the two formed a close partnership, Kelly, 27, secretly married 15-year-old Aaliyah using a falsified marriage certificate in which she lied about being 18 years old, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Eventually, Childress convinced Bryant to move to Georgia for his career, but “the ulterior motive ... was to foster her relationship with R. Kelly,” the lawsuit read.

Bryant said he went through “grievous mental and emotional distress” and “financial ruin.”

9. He is a three-time Grammy winner

In 1998, Kelly won best R&B song, best male R&B vocal performance and best song written for a motion picture for his hit, “I Believe I Can Fly.”

10. Kelly reportedly has a home in Atlanta

In a 2015 interview with AJC’s Melissa Ruggieri, Kelly said: “I’ve always loved Atlanta, I’ve always called it Chicago’s cousin. When I come to Atlanta it reminds me of my hometown. I’ve got a lot of friends here, so it always felt like home. I used to say all the time when I get a chance I’m gonna get a three-flat and come to Atlanta and I finally got my chance and I’m here and I’m just trying to plant a few seeds here musically.”